ICC Intercontinental Cup
| most_successful = (3 titles) | most_runs = Steve Tikolo (1,918) | most_wickets = Trent Johnston (81) }} The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council as part of its cricket development programme. It is designed to allow Associate Members of the ICC the chance to play first-class cricket matches against teams of similar skill in a competition environment and prepare them for eventual promotion to Test cricket status. Tournament history 2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup The inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup was completed on 22 November 2004 when Scotland won the title in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Scotland beat Canada by an innings and 84 runs in the final. The competition included 12 teams, divided by geographical region into four groups of three. Each team played the other two teams in its group once each. The top team in each group then progresses to the semi-finals, and the winners of those to the final. In order to encourage competitive play and avoid deadlocks, a point system including bonus points was used. 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup The tournament was played for the second time in 2005. The teams and groupings were the same, except that Hong Kong came in to replace Malaysia, and the Cayman Islands replaced the United States who were expelled from the competition by the ICC because of then ongoing political problems within cricket in the US. The points system was also modified so that teams could score unlimited batting points in the first innings and a maximum of 4 points in the second innings. The tournament was won by Ireland who defeated Kenya in the final. 2006–2007 ICC Intercontinental Cup The tournament was cut from 12 to eight teams, with Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Uganda losing the right to participate, while Namibia knocked out Nepal in a play off for the eighth place. The match length was extended from three to four days, and each team was scheduled to play at least three matches. The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing the other once and the top two teams qualifying for the final, and the points system has also been changed: 14 points are now awarded for a win, and six for a first-innings lead. Due to preparations for the 2007 World Cup and the longer tournament, the final was played in May 2007, where Ireland defeated Canada to defend their title. 2007–2008 ICC Intercontinental Cup The 2007–08 tournament was played as a single round-robin league of eight teams, so that each team played seven matches. The teams ranked first and second at the end of the pool stage contested the final. Namibia finished on top at the pool stage, but lost the final against second placed Ireland in late October in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Ireland thus completed a hat-trick of Intercontinental Cup victories, having been undefeated in the competition, and having won three consecutive make-or-break away fixtures in Africa (against Namibia, Kenya and Namibia again) to clinch the title. 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup The 2009–10 tournament was expanded to two divisions and 11 teams. Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Kenya, and Afghanistan played in the top division, joined by Zimbabwe A. Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates, Namibia, Bermuda and Uganda played in the Intercontinental Shield. Afghanistan won their first title, beating Scotland in the final. 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup In December 2010, the ICC announced that the 2011–13 tournament would revert to the 8 team, single division format of the 2007–08 season and that the Intercontinental Shield would be scrapped. The sixth staging of the Cup runs from June 2011 until October 2013. and includes the six associate and affiliate teams with current ODI (One Day International) status; Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland. The remaining two places were allotted to UAE and Namibia who finished in the top two of the ICC Intercontinental Shield and ICC World Cricket League Division 2 after the ICC Development Committee decided to select the remaining Intercontinental Cup participants from the top four teams of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 consisting of Bermuda, Namibia, UAE, Uganda and two qualifiers to proceed from WCL Division 3 (Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea). The ICC Development Committee also announced that a 50-over tournament that runs alongside the re-expanded Intercontinental Cup. 2014-2016 ICC Intercontinental Cup As of October 2013, there is no confirmation that the Intercontinental Cup, or it's one-day counterpart the World Cricket League, will continue in their current format, although ICC decisions related to the 2019 World Cup have fueled speculation that there will be significant changes to the formal of Associate/Affiliate competition structures. The 2019 World Cup will comprise the top 8 ranked Full Members, and the top 2 teams from a qualifying tournament. According to a leaked ICC document "Eight teams will compete in the qualifying tournament. These teams will be the ones ranked from 9th to 12th on the ICC ODI ranking table, the first and second on the World Cricket League Championship, and two from the World Cricket League pathway tournaments" Given the 11th and 12th ranked teams usually overlap with 1st and 2nd in the WCL, this document assumes two teams above the WCL, in addition to the 10 Full Members. As Intercontinental Cup matches are part of mini-tours, alongside WCL and sometimes T20s, and in the absence of a statement on the future of the competition, there is no guarantee that the competition will continue from 2014. The final of the 2011-13 competition will be held in December 2013 between Ireland and Afghanistan, and an announcement may be made at that point about the future of the tournament, as the 2011-13 format was announced in December 2010. Team records ;Overall Record Five teams have participated in all five editions of the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Since its inaugural season, the tournament has been dominated by Ireland, who completed a hat-trick of wins in 2007–2008, and have a significant advantage in the historical win record. The 2006 challenge match between Namibia and Nepal, the abandoned match between Scotland and Kenya in 2008 as well as the forfeited match between Zimbabwe and Scotland in 2010 are not included. Complete up to the 2010 final. Key: TP/TW=Tournaments participated/won, M=Matches played, W/L/D=wins/losses/draws, Win%=percentage of games won, a draw counts as half of a win. ;Intercontinental Shield Record In 2009 a second competition, the Intercontinental Shield, was introduced for the four teams placing 7th through 10th in the 2009 World Cup Qualifier. The matches are also first-class and the rules and points system are the same as for the Intercontinental Cup. The current teams in the Intercontinental Shield are Bermuda, Namibia, Uganda and United Arab Emirates. In December 2010 after the end of the Intercontinental Shield the ICC announced that it would be scrapping the Shield competition and returning to the 8 team Intercontinental Cup format of the 2007–08 season. Complete up to the 2010 final between the UAE and Namibia. Key: TP/TW=Tournaments participated/won, M=Matches played, W/L/D=wins/losses/draws, Win%=percentage of games won, a draw counts as half of a win. External links * ICC Official site * Intercontinental Cup